Emptying device for vacuum cleaner bags



Dec. 3, 1940. E. w. vosE 2,224,092

EMPTYING DEVICE FOR VACUUM CLEANER BAGS Filed April 26, 1938 INVENTOR.

Patented tries. 3

entree Edwin W. Vose, Grange, hi. it... assignor to R. B.

Small, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Application April 26, 1938, Serial No. 204,443

2 Claims.

My invention relates to vacuum-cleaner dirtbags and is especially concerned with the removal and disposal'of the material collected therein.

The conventional fabric bags, as common to vacuum cleaners and attached to the handles thereof, have proved to be highly reliable filters and dirt-receptacles, but emptying and cleaning them has always been a disagreeable task. This job is so disagreeable that bags are customarily allowed to fill so full of dirt as to seriously impair the operating efiiciency of the cleaner.

The principal object of this invention is to devise means of removing and disposing of the dirt collected in the bag without removing the bag from the machine, and in such manner that it can be transferred from the bag to a suitable receptacle without allowing dust or dirt to escape to the open air and thence to the surroundings. Heretofore, it has been undesirable, it not impossible, to empty vacuum-cleaner bags indoors, while the device herewith described permits of such emptying in a clean and sanitary manner.

It is a further object of the invention that the means used shall permit of a thorough shaking of the bag while being emptied, also in dust-free manner.

It is a further object of the invention to so design these means of bag emptying that they will not be cumbersome, or disagreeable in appearance, that they will be very light in weight, have sufficient capacity, in no way interfere with the normal operation of the cleaner, and be so simple in operation that anyone can use it without special instructions.

Heretofore openings, such as gates, have been suggested or applied on vacuum-cleaner bags for getting the dirt therefrom, but I accomplish these objects by means of an opening with a slide cover which functionally cooperates with a normally detached dirt-receptacle in such manner that one or the other must be held dust tight over the aperture at all times.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side view of a conventional vacuum cleaner showing the normal location of my device on the bag.

Figure 2 is a bottom view of such a bag showing the device installed.

Figure 3 is a similar view but showing a flexible I cover for the device.

(6!. Wit-41) Figure 4 is a cross-section taken longitudinally of the device.

Figure 5 is a plan view with the closure in place, as seen from the bottom.

Figure 6 is a cross-section on a median line crosswise of the frame.

Figure '1 is a cross-section lengthwise or the dirt-receptacle.

Figure 8 is an end view of the receptacle.

Figure 9 is a modified type of receptacle.

On the under side of a conventional vacuumcleaner bag 6, Figure 1, attached to a conventional vacuum cleaner 2 and located in suitable position thereon is a frame or holder 3 having opening therein provided with a sliding cover t, Figure 2.

The entire device may, if desired, be covered by a flexible flap 6, Figure 3, sewn to the bag as at "l and Joined on the other side as by glove fasteners 8.

That portion of the device which is normally a part of the vacuum-cleaner bag and remains with it while the cleaner is in use consists essentially of a rectangular inner frame 3, Figure 4, which when padded with felt 9 is sewn into the vacuum-cleaner bag fabric Ill leaving an aperture ll. Guide rails l2, Figures 5 and 6, are joined to the inner frame 8 in any suitable manner as by rivets l3. The aperture II is then covered by means of a sliding cover l5. This cover is provided with a folded or bent channel-forming portion it on one end so turned as to form a grip member which forms an interlocking detachable connection with a similar but inverted folded portion or grip member il on the end of the dirt receptacle l8, see Figures 7 and 8. The other end of the sliding cover is provided with a turnedover portion 20 for limiting the movement of the cover in the guides. Likewise, the end of the receptacle opposite the said grip portion H has a turned flange 2| for similar purpose.

When the grip flange ll of the receptacle I8 is caught in the grip flange I6 of the slide l5, and the side guides 22 are caught under the guide rails I2, the receptacle may be moved across the aperture ll until its movement is stopped by the stop-flange 2|. The sliding cover does not then fall out of its guide rails being held there by the connected grip portions l6 and I1 and a sufilcient extension of said rails. When the dirt has been tumbled into the receptacle and pressed therein with the fingers applied to the outside of the bag, the receptacle and the slide may be pushed back to the opposite position where the sliding cover is stopped by its stop-flange 20 and the receptacle is removed.

As a modification of the receptacle iii .1 have devised a part 28 which is in every way similar 'to the upper portion of the dirt-receptacle 88 It is, however, open at the bottom, see Figure 9, but equipped with a flange 2% around which the mouth of an auxiliary dirt-bag 3&3 is joined. as by a tie string 3!. Any means of attachment may be used for holding a flexible dirt container or to the rigid portion '28. This rigid portion is equipped with grip portion H and stop 28 and can be used in exactly the same manner as the dirt-receptacle l8.

The felt pad 9 sewn inside the seam of the fabric of the bag In makes a yielding cushion upon which either the slide cover I5 or the flanges of the receptacle l8 are firmly held by the side guides l2. In this manner the closure is maintained substantially dust-tight while the machine is in operation and it is equally free of dust diffusion when being emptied.

While I have shown an approved arrangement of my invention, it will be evident that the novel features embodied therein may be applied in other mechanical forms without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

Ii claim:

to A hag emptg device for vacuum cleaners including a bee having an aperture for emptying purposes, a frame secured to the-bag and surrounding the aperture, spaced guides secured to the frame, a closure sliclable in the guides and normally closing said aperture, and yieldable means disposed on the frame between the same and the guides and receiving the closure and maintaining the se in substantially dust-tight relation with the bag of the vacuum cleaner.

2. A bag emptying device for vacuum cleaners including a bag having an aperture for emptying purposes, a frame-secured to the bag and surrounding the aperture, spaced guides secured to the frame, a closure slidable in the guides and EDWIN W. VOSE. 

